Who hasn’t driven over a pothole and cursed loudly about the damage done to the car? Some holes these days are absolutely massive and can cause real harm to the vehicle – but manufacturer Ford is now taking action to protect motorists from huge car maintenance bills in the future.

The company is working on developing technology that will detect these potholes and warn drivers before they go over them, with cars coming equipped with special cameras that scan roads constantly, the BBC reports. This information is then displayed on the dashboards of other drivers.

Some models already use sensors to detect potholes and will make adjustments to the car’s suspension to help reduce vehicle damage.

One research engineer at Ford was quoted by the news source as saying: “A virtual pothole map could highlight a new pothole the minute it appears and almost immediately warn other drivers that there is a hazard ahead. Our cars already feature sensors that detect potholes and now we are looking at taking this to the next level.”

Ford is also looking into how cars could become more empathetic, able to pick up on drivers’ changes in facial expressions and modulations in their speaking voice to make the driving experience even easier and more pleasurable.